Caring for zoo animals.(kangaroos)

It isn't every day the Yak gets to peer inside the pouch of a female kangaroo! It happened on a recent visit to the Detroit Zoo, when he got to watch the veterinary staff do an exam on a Matschie's tree kangaroo.

"She's had many babies, but her breeding days are over," chief vet Ann Duncan said of Trina, 20.

The little kangaroo lay unconscious on a stainless steel table in the new Animal Health Complex. She had been given an anesthetic so the staff could take X-rays of her lungs, spine and internal organs; examine her eyes, mouth and ears; and feel her skin, muscles and lymph nodes for any suspicious lumps or bumps.

Ann gently spread apart a vertical slash on Trina's soft, furry belly. "This is the pouch," she said, feeling inside with surgical gloves.

The pouch looked like a little pink purse--with four nipples for joeys to drink milk. Awesome! The Yak has had a lot of fun this summer, but he has to say not much beats getting a close look at a kangaroo--and even petting her!

"She's not an aggressive animal, so she's not going to wake up and be dangerous in any way," said Ann, who was assisted by two vet technicians, a vet student and an associate animal curator.

"So we can do this--let you pet her."